I don't know how the new CBA works regarding juniors, but is he stuck there the whole year? Is he even allowed to play in the AHL this year? IF, he keeps this kind of pace up I would think he would need better competition to continue to develop.

Only 4 games. Impressive but still only a couple games. Playing big minutes in the Q will help him more than 3rd line AHL which is where he would probably be. If he tears up the whole year than AHL next year.
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I don't know how the new CBA works regarding juniors, but is he stuck there the whole year? Is he even allowed to play in the AHL this year? IF, he keeps this kind of pace up I would think he would need better competition to continue to develop.

thoughts?

The agreement between the NHL & CHL is that a player is not eligible for the professional minor leagues until the year they turn 20 or complete 4 years of major junior. The earliest Mantha would see AHL action will possibly be a stint in GR after his season in the Q is over next spring. I wouldn't be shocked if he spent 2013-14 in the Q either actually given the Wings' history with prospects.

Maybe he's woken up and realized how hard he needs to work night in and night out.
Let's hope it continues.
And if he's dominating the q all this year, hell be in grvnext year, no matter how over ripe the wings want him.

This is what I was afraid would happen. He's too good for Junior hockey now. Hopefully they've got him playing in all situations - PK, defending leads - to help round out his game.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

This is what I was afraid would happen. He's too good for Junior hockey now. Hopefully they've got him playing in all situations - PK, defending leads - to help round out his game.

Why are you afraid? The kid is 19. Hes supposed to be tearing up juniors at this age for a 1st round pick. Its the natural progression of prospects. The kids development is not going to be stumped with another year in the Q. Its another year for his body to continue filling out which will make the transition to pro that much easier. Which is a major part of development.

What I'm afraid of is that the only thing he'll learn in junior is bad habits. When success comes this easy its becomes very tempting to take short-cuts.

Sure, his body will continue to develop, but what about his skills, his mental attitude, his off-ice preparation? To take his game to the next level he needs to be playing against men IMO, but since he's not AHL eligable, and he's not good enough for the NHL yet, it is what it is.

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

Because he never played in the CHL. The only age limit for non-CHL players the AHL has is that they have to be at minimum 18.

That really bugs me. I don't see how the chl was able to force this standard on AHL/NHL. I can understand why, but it bothers me that they're essentially holding a young kid's career hostage just so they can extract another year of entertainment value out of him. Especially when you consider how much money they make, Meanwhile the kids aren't compensated. It's worse than the NCAA, because you're not even getting a degree out of it.

Maybe he's woken up and realized how hard he needs to work night in and night out.
Let's hope it continues.
And if he's dominating the q all this year, hell be in grvnext year, no matter how over ripe the wings want him.

Not trying to be a jerk, have you just started following him? He dominated the q last year, and his work ethic/attitude got better then as well.

I'm happy to see him dominate. We need more stars, if this guy scores 60-70 goals this year, makes Team Canada's world junior team and maybe gets a chance to compete for the Memorial Cup, well then we're laughing. That is good for development, he's just a kid. There is a ton of talent in Grand Rapids as it is, he's in a good spot.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Plenty of room for improvement in the Q this season. He only made the SECOND All-star squad last season, bronze for Junior Canada, and no individual trophies or awards. If he keeps pace, he'll make first squad and take some scoring or mvp awards, perhaps help lead Canada to gold, and then be AHL eligible next season. Sounds good to me.

Just think, there were people on this forum questioning this pick.......

I'm not down on this kid at all, but lets wait till he's at least played in the NHL before we decide if he's a good pick or not, eh?

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

I'm not down on this kid at all, but lets wait till he's at least played in the NHL before we decide if he's a good pick or not, eh?

No that is not what the draft is about. You have a good draft when you pick talented young players. How they turn out down the road is another story all together. This was a great pick for us in this draft.

BTW Vol already has Mantha listed as 6-5/206. So yes he is growing. Yes I understand EVERYONE lies about how big guys really are. But he was listed as 6-3/190 on most draft sites, IIRC the RW site has him as 6-4/190, but now his Junior team lists him as bigger. This is a good thing.

Nastasiuk is also off to a good start with Owen Sound. 2 G and 2 A in 4 games so far. He has also grown. Listed as 6-2/196.